18-year-old daughter of Palestinian prisoner hugs her father for the first time ever

Aug. 28, 2016 8:54 P.M. (Updated: Aug. 29, 2016 4:21 P.M.)

RAMALLAH (Ma’an) -- The 18-year-old daughter of a Palestinian prisoner serving a life sentence in Israeli prison was able to hug her father for the first time in her life on Sunday, according to Sawt al-Asra (Voice of the Prisoners) radio.

Yara al-Sharabati, the daughter of 49-year-old Palestinian prisoner Ayman al-Sharabati from occupied East Jerusalem, was recently granted permission to visit her father after being banned from visits for the past three years.

The teenager, who had reportedly only ever seen her father through a barrier, was allowed to embrace him for the first time in her life, as he was detained before she was born.

Ayman al-Sharabati, who is being held in Israel’s Gilboa prison, was detained on May 6, 1998, and was sentenced to life in prison for his affiliation with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the armed wing of the Fatah party, and for carrying out an attack in Jerusalem which resulted in the death of an Israeli settler and the injury of another.

The Israel Prison Service (IPS) has repeatedly denied family visitation for scores of Palestinian prisoners held in in prisons across the state of Israel, with some families have reported being held at Israeli checkpoints and forced to return their homes in the occupied territory, despite being granted visitation permits

Palestinian families also often experience rejection or long-term delays in their permit applications to visit prisoners held by Israel.

According to prisoners rights group Addameer, 7,000 Palestinians were being held in Israeli prisons as of July, 458 of whom were serving life sentences.